


Did He Actually Say It?—The I Love You Job, Part Three

by crayonbreakygal



Series: The I Love You Job [3]
Category: Leverage
Genre: F/M, I Love You, Love, Romance, challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:54:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26209021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crayonbreakygal/pseuds/crayonbreakygal
Summary: What would have happened if Nate had actually told Sophie that he loved her?
Relationships: Sophie Devereaux/Nathan Ford
Series: The I Love You Job [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1897918
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	Did He Actually Say It?—The I Love You Job, Part Three

**Author's Note:**

> Part three. Italics from whendarknessfalls.net and of course the scripts.

Did He Actually Say It?—The I Love You Job, Part Three

Takes place during The Maltese Falcon Job, season two and The Jailhouse Job, season three.

_“Nate?”_

Nate sat on the stairs, looking at his son’s drawing, with a glass of alcohol in which to fortify himself if need be.

_“Nate?”_

_“Sophie, it's me. I-I screwed up. Uh...”_

He’d made a deal with the devil. One where he’d save them in the end. How would he tell her?

_“Nate?”_

It was now or never. He’d never gotten them in so deep that he couldn’t figure a way out. This was the only way out.

_“Nate? Is that you? I-I can't hear you!”_

_“Yeah. No. I... I, uh... Listen, I need you to come back. Um... I need you. Uh, I need you.”_

Would she understand? His sacrifice? Could she explain it to the others, what he had to do? Eliot might understand. Hardison and Parker would not and would probably hold it against him.

_“No, no, no. Speak up. I'm traveling and...”_

_“Not the team. Me. For me. Not for a con. I just... Listen, I... I don't know who I am anymore, Sophie. And, ah... When, when I was chasing you and everything and we were doing cons, I knew who I was, but not anymore. As crazy as this sounds, I need you to tell me, tell me when I'm goin' too far. I mean, it just... It gets out of control and I just don't know who I am and, and you've always been... .my compass. And, you know, I care about you more than yo-you'll ever know, because I lo... I lo...”_

It was now or never.

“Because I love you, Soph. For so long. Just come back. For me.”

Dead silence on the other end. Either she heard him and hung up, or the connection dropped. He wouldn’t know until he could actually see her again.

_“Soph, you came back.”_

How had she gotten there so fast? She looked utterly composed. His surprise at seeing her again had almost blown the whole job. He’d hear about that later from her. Her Annie Kroy persona had thrown him for a loop in addition to showing up to save his ass from getting tossed into the sea with a bullet to his head.

_“Well... You needed me. Come on. Can't leave a job half-finished.”_

She’d heard the first part. That was good. What about the second part?

It was good. It was all good until closing that door on Kadjic, him shooting to kill to keep Nate from doing it. He hadn’t expected to be shot, but with his luck, it was inevitable. Dammit, plan A had morphed into plan B with Sophie showing up, to plan C turning into plan D. With Sterling showing up too early it had finally settled on Plan F, which meant not only was he fucked, he was royally fucked, with blood dripping down into his hand to add to the fucked part.

Fastening his hand to the railing with that handcuff, this was his hail mary, Plan F, not Plan M. God, she was gonna be so pissed at him.

_“You guys are the most honorable people I have ever met in my life. You've become my family. My only family. I won't forget that.”_

Nate looked at Eliot, to make sure he’d carry them out if he had to get them to safety.

_“Now get 'em on the chopper. Please. Now!”_

This was not going according to plan at all.

_“Nate?”_

_“What?”_

Sophie looked at Nate, tears ready to fall. He gestured at her to come closer, if just for a moment before she had to get on that helicopter to freedom.

_“Come here.”_

He hadn’t meant to be so commanding. She’d kick his ass for doing what he’d done. He didn’t have the arms to draw her to him, but she came anyway. He could feel the tears start to fall as she kissed him. Finally, his heart ached. She’d finally decided that kissing him was the best solution. Before she pulled away, she whispered in his ear.

“I love you.”

She was angry, so angry with him for pulling a stunt as he did. As she started to wind up, he knew what was coming.

_“You call me. You tell me you need me, so you can do this?”_

The slap was warranted. He knew it was coming. What he wasn’t prepared for was her confession, that only he could hear. He thought that wherever she’d been when he called her, probably that helicopter that was now ready to go as soon as she boarded, she hadn’t heard his confession. She obviously had.

As Sophie walked toward Eliot, to get off that ship to safety, Nate realized that his life was just beginning again. He hoped that she would wait for him. He was going to jail, possibly for a long time. The gunshot was minor compared to the fact that as he slid down to the deck of The Maltese Falcon, he now had to contend with a force to be reckoned with. He’d chosen to make his confession because he knew it was all going to blow up in his face. It was his last chance to tell her.

And she’d said it back. Now, what was he going to do?

Sophie was particularly sarcastic when she visited him at the correctional facility. No mention of the declaration was made, possibly because the other three were listening and chastising him for not wanting to break out of prison. It would be a long time before he’d get her alone, if ever. He’d pay for what he had done. 

As usual, nothing went according to plan. Sure, he was finally out of prison. It felt good to be back in the game, to be free once again only to run up against another adversary who was blackmailing them to take down a really, really bad man. Figures.

There hadn’t been time for either he or Sophie to breathe much less spend a little quiet time just between the two of them. The other three hovered around, as they always did. This thing with Moreau spooked them, especially Eliot. They were back in business, just as Hardison had said.

And here it comes, Nate thought. He quickly took a very large sip from his tumbler. Fortify for the onslaught.

_“So... How's that going for you?”_

His drinking? He’d missed it in jail. At least she hadn’t led with those three words.

_“This? Uh, thanks for asking. Yeah, it's, um, good. When I realize that I tried being a drunk honest man, a sober thief, so I'm gonna try being a drunk thief, you know? Try that for a little while. You're not going to try to save me, are you?”_

As she approached him, he didn’t know whether she was going to slug him or, well, a man could always hope. She grabbed his drink before he could react, taking a sip before giving it back to him.

_“You're a thief now. You can save yourself.”_

Sophie started to walk away. It was a good exit line on her part. Almost like she had rehearsed it.

_“Whatever you say, Dominique. Hmm? Caroline. Miriam. Raquel. I’ll get it. I’ll get it.”_

Nate could hear her chuckle as she reached the door. Before she could open it, he called out once more. 

“And oh. The phone call? While you were on the helicopter?”

A groan of pain came from what sounded like the door being slammed into a body part.

“I meant what I said.”

Now the ball was in her court. She could either acknowledge that they’d both said things and move forward or decide that now was the time to cut bait and stay friends.

She wasn’t limping as she appeared back in his field of vision.

“The part about needing me?”

Oh, now she was playing coy. Game on, Sophie Devereaux.

“Um, no.”

“The part about being your compass?”

“Nope.”

“The part about me telling you when you’ve gone too far,” she growled out. Sounded like she had been taking lessons from Eliot while he was in prison.

He turned his head to the side, kind of like he did when he was being obtuse. Now he hoped that she didn’t get any lessons on hitting from Eliot while he was gone because she looked to be building a full head of steam and was ready to blow.

“So obviously you heard everything I said.”

Nate leaned back in his chair to give her the floor. He didn’t see any weapons on her person, although there was one time when she hid one that until this day he never found out where.

“Every. Single. Word.”

As she slowly started to crowd his space, all he could do was grin up at her.

“You are the most difficult, pigheaded, obnoxious, rude, crazy beast that I have ever known.”

Nate took his time to take in every feature, from her cheeks that looked to be a shade of pink from her exertion, to her sparkling eyes that literally seemed to get darker the angrier she got, to the clinched up fists that could probably knock some sense into him if need be.

“You are so…”

“Choose your words carefully, Nate.”

“Enchanting.”

“Oh.”

“And belligerent, conniving, self-centered, stunningly beautiful and quite dangerous,” Nate got out before she lowered her head to his.

“Game on, Nate Ford. We’ll see who goes belly up first.”

“I spent six months in prison, Soph. All those lonely nights.” He could tell that she was stifling a groan as he whispered in her ear. “There’s only so much a man can take.”

He closed his eyes briefly as he felt her breath against his neck. Dammit, she’s good he thought. Why he decided to challenge her was probably the biggest mistake he’d ever made.

Before he could even take another deep breath, Sophie was standing up and smiling back at him.

“You have a lot of catching up to do. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

With that, she was out the door before he could say anything more.

“Dammit, Sophie.”

Game on indeed.


End file.
